This Time Last Year

It’s May 25th today.  It not only marks 10 months since Rudy died, it’s also the start of the long Memorial Day Weekend which means the house has emptied out.  Oma flew back home on Wednesday after her weeklong visit, Wilson left yesterday for Air Assault School in Hawaii, Max left on the train later in the day for Point Loma and Olivia left this morning with her youth group to meet up with Max at Point Loma for an annual youth conference.  Everybody is off doing great, much-anticipated things and that’s super fun.

I’m not sure if it’s because we’re getting closer to the 1 year anniversary of Rudy’s passing or not but I’m starting to get preoccupied with “this time last year” memories.  Up until now, my missing of Rudy (especially on holidays) has been fairly general with quick flashes of specific moments…missing his presence mostly and being flooded with a wide range of memories from all his birthdays or many Christmases or the various Easter scavenger hunts he participated in.  In the past couple of weeks, though, I’ve kinda been haunted by memories of last year specifically.  I suppose part of that is due to the fact that how I’ve spent my time this spring is dramatically different without Rudy here…I’ve missed all the end-of-the-school-year activities with Rudy like the Special Olympics Spring Track Meet, the school open house where he showed us all his fun projects, the bowling trip to Zodo’s with his special ed classmates, our annual teacher appreciation dinner, all the field trips and parties, etc.  Oh, I’ve missed it all and the people with whom I did it all.

The memories of this weekend last year are particularly vivid…it was so full…Rolf was working on a bathroom remodel so Rudy and I busied ourselves with a trip to the grand opening of the downtown Kyle’s Kitchen and then went to a friend’s baby dedication and, of course, we spent Sunday watching the Indianapolis 500 which was Rudy’s very favorite.  I can remember random details about the weekend, what he was wearing and the toys he insisted carrying around with him.  My mind is definitely shifting toward a more specific focus as it relates to memories of Rudy and I suspect that focus will become even sharper as we approach July 25th.  Ooooo, tough days ahead.

This Memorial Day Weekend is also a bit of a de ja vu when it comes to house projects.  You may remember that Rolf demolished and rebuilt half of our primary bathroom over the long weekend last year.

He got as far as the sink, custom countertop and vanity but had to stop there as we were getting ready to host family and friends for Max’s graduation and needed a working bathroom.  The plan was to finish the whole bathroom remodel when the house emptied out again during the summer…well, the project has gone untouched since.  Rolf kind of lost his remodel mojo and I haven’t had the mental energy to tolerate the upheaval either.  However, it’s time to get it done and Rolf is going to resume demolition tomorrow.  Interesting to note, the major project delay is turning out to be fortunate timing for us as we will be doing modifications necessary for me down the line that we wouldn’t have done originally and the benefit of that isn’t lost on me and Rolf.  I’ve always been grateful for Rolf and his excellent thought, planning and execution of projects on behalf of our family over the years and that is especially true of this bathroom project.  The alternative modifications aren’t fun details to think through but he’s doing all the thinking for us and making it happen.  Thanks Rolfi.

Speaking of “this time last year”, this is what Rudy was doing on May 25, 2017…a duet with his sister.

Good job Rudy.